Philippine Daily Inquirer
10:16 pm | Thursday, January 3rd, 2013
Regine Rafael
It’s only a year old, yet Speed Regalo, an online shopping website, and its little yellow bee logo has been buzzing to a happy and busy tune delivering smiles and packages—big and small, all over the Philippines. Speed Regalo (www.speedregalo.com.ph) is the brainchild of Rosemarie Rafael, president of Airspeed, an established freight forwarding company.
“She felt a strong desire to provide Filipinos from all over the world, especially those who work overseas, a convenient and affordable way to give their loved ones gifts and other necessities,” says Regine Rafael, the head of Speed Regalo’s marketing and communication and the eldest of Rosemarie’s brood.
Speed Regalo offers a variety of products, from food, to home furnishings and electronics, clothes, shoes, gadgets, toys, hard-to-find health and beauty essentials, office equipment, pet supplies, among others.
Clients go crazy over the fast service and the ridiculously affordable rates that’s made possible by their own logistics company. What makes Speed Regalo different from other online local and foreign shopping sites is that they advocate Philippine-made products. Most of what you see on their website is sourced from small communities and from different regions in the country.
“A big part of our suppliers are home-based entrepreneurs. We want to support the start-ups and share their products to a wider audience. We even sell homemade ice cream, cupcakes, and chocolates. We have a supplier who concocted one of our bestsellers, the Banana Nutella Ice Cream—it’s so yummy,” Regine smiles.
Regine herself hunts for new products to add to their roster. She looks for quality and reliability from potential suppliers. “There are so many creative and artistic Filipinos with great ideas out there, and their work is too good to be kept a secret. But they don’t know how to go about selling,” says Regine. “We help them this way.”
It’s what endeared Plantersbank to them—the SME bank and Speed Regalo pursue the same goals of social purpose to their business. “Plantersbank is our dear, dear friend,” Regine says sincerely.
“A lot of our products are specially made and can’t be found in the shopping malls,” she says. Christmas and Valentine’s are their busiest holidays, and Mother’s Day brings a lot of orders. The most unusual item that they have carried so far is the Bacon Smores Cookies, which apparently is another bestseller. “Filipinos prefer food items,” she laughs.
They also offer Gawad Kalinga products on their site. “A lot of people have started buying home-based products for delivery. I love this because it supports our local economy,” she says.
Some of the merchandise being offered at Speed Regalo includes health & beauty products and imported wine.
“We had an order from Abu Dhabi. It was our client’s wedding anniversary and he wanted to have two lechons, flowers and a cake delivered as a surprise to his wife,” says Regine. Speed Regalo took photos of the family receiving the delivery and e-mailed the photos back to the client. The client wrote back to thank them.
“He thanked us and said that he feels so blessed seeing his wife and children happy. He says, ‘Sa pamamagitan niyo ay naiparamdam ko ulit sa kanila kung gaano ko sila kamahal. I really appreciate it at sana ay marami pa kayong mapasaya.’
Even if he was miles away, he says that this was his “happiest anniversary,” she says warmly.
“This was our first feedback. We made it our mission ever since,” says Regine.
Although Rosemarie is the recognized general in the company, Regine’s experience in marketing and youthful passion certainly makes her a very proficient lieutenant. She and a staff of five run Speed Regalo. Being simple in their operations has helped the company focus on quality service.
Since they cater to everyone, they made sure that Speed Regalo could easily be accessed. The modes of payment can be done via credit card, PayPal, bank deposit or even via the nearby 7-11 convenience stores.
A young enterprise is vulnerable to so many factors and mistakes are always bound to happen. A business based on the Internet can succeed instantly or can fail instead. Online shopping is part science and part intuitive endeavor. “We learn from our mistakes. Definitely, finding the right team makes a difference. Teamwork and trust really matters, and without it you can’t succeed,” Regine emphasizes.
It’s safe to say that the company has reached a certain success in the industry. “Greatness doesn’t happen overnight. We constantly strive to improve,” she says.
“My vision for Speed Regalo is providing every Filipino with the ability to show their loved ones how much they love and care for them. We want to be that ‘happiness messenger’ for everyone,” she adds.
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Tags: Business , Entrepreneurship , Philippines , Regine Rafael , Rosemarie Rafael , Speed Regalo
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